


Dating Wild

by DigitalMeowMix



Category: Jurassic Park (Movies), Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Dating, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:51:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5448932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalMeowMix/pseuds/DigitalMeowMix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dating after Dinosaurs</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dating Wild

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brodeurbunny30](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brodeurbunny30/gifts).



> Thank you to my wonderful and patient betas  
> [TheDevilChicken](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchickem) and  
> [Totem](http://archiveofourown.org/users/totem)!

**Find a suitable space for the pet to settle in**

Claire had already had enough of a clusterfuck to deal with, as she walked into the hallway outside of the congressional courtroom during a recess, when she saw Owen Grady a few feet away. He was wearing a suit and looked like he wanted to rip it off at the seams, maybe taking his skin along with it. 

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. She’d felt poised when she’d walked up the court steps that morning. This wasn't her first court hearing, just the most public of them. She knew she could do this. But seeing him there was like a punch to the gut, and for a moment all she was able to focus on was the feeling of tropical dirt under her fingernails and sweat dripping off her body, her heart pounding as she felt torn between the urge to either vomit or run. Instead, she took a deep, cleansing breath and did the adult thing: she went over to say hello. Oh God, she thought to herself as she approached him. Did he seriously have a Starbucks cup in his hand?

Owen’s lawyer had told him he’d be fine. All the reports and all the witnesses’ testimony had corroborated the fact that he’d done his job, that he’d shown consistent resistance to the plan for the Indominus Rex as well as having cautioned against the dangerous actions of his higher-ups. Not only that but he’d also shown tremendous leadership and gone above the call of duty with his command of the raptors to stop the attack. But Owen also knew that both the US and Costa Rican governments wanted someone to blame, and he was sure that would be the biggest obstacle in the case. For a moment, he found himself tempted to call Barry at his new job at Busch Gardens for emotional support when he saw Claire Dearing strutting his way. Oh crap.

They didn’t hug, and they didn’t smile at each other. In the two months since they’d gotten off the island they hadn’t shared a word, both of them having gone off to lick their wounds in private. What were they even supposed to say to each other after all that they’d been through? “Hey, haven't seen you in awhile, not since we ran for our lives from a T-Rex together, how have you been?”

 

**Allow the pet to become familiar with you**

The next day Owen handed Claire a cup of coffee and they stood together at recess, finding themselves beginning to share what their lives were like now. Owen said he had a job at a big cat sanctuary in Florida all lined up for himself, ready to start whenever the hearings finally concluded. Claire was calling a hotel room in DC home while she gave her testimony. She had also been making regular calls to her sister and the boys each week. Apparently the divorce had been hard on the boys, but not as hard as dinosaurs, all things considered. 

She talked about her lawyer being the best she could afford, taking into to account the already limited pool of those who would even consider representing her, and Owen assured her that she’d be fine. She didn’t believe him though she'd have liked to; it helped that he actually seemed sincere about it, at least until he asked her to dinner after court adjourned for the day. In the end, she accepted, wondering why the fuck not at this point.

Owen asked her because he really had enjoyed the bickering and banter they managed to share in between episodes of running for their lives. A part of him wondered if that made him strange, but then he thought that it couldn’t be any weirder than him being crazy enough to train velociraptors in the first place. It had been pretty safe to say that having asked out his former kind-of-boss who hated him hadn’t been the craziest or the stupidest thing he’d ever done. At least they had things in common, like dinosaurs! Of course, he hadn't been on a real date, not counting that first disastrous one with Claire, for about five years. So, he didn’t actually know what it took to have a relationship anymore. But Owen worked with wild and lethal and even sometimes formerly extinct animals; he could handle trying to get along with Claire.

He took it as a good sign that he already knew that her finding out that he’d ever made that comparison, even in his head, would have resulted in her eviscerating him with her Jimmy Choos.

 

 **Feed the animal, by hand if possible**

They ate dinner at an upscale but casual pub two blocks from the Mall. Owen wore a clean dress shirt and khakis with a weathered yet tasteful leather jacket, a vast improvement over his usual board shorts and sweaty t-shirts. Claire hadn't expected him to pull out the chair for her, but he did hold the door for her when they walked in. He also told her to order first.

She ordered herself a large glass of Chardonnay and made a point out of telling their waiter to leave the bottle. Over steaks and pasta primavera and several glasses of wine he listened to her offload her anxieties about the hearing. At some point during the night, they started taking turns swapping PTSD nightmares with each other.

The following day, the headline running in the papers read: ”JURASSIC HIGHER-UPS DATING DURING TRIAL? Love reborn from the ruins of a prehistoric disaster?” Owen was pissed and wasn’t able to resist bringing it up that day during recess. He expected Claire to be angry, or to be just as nervous about the potential bad PR as he was, or to get cold feet again and refuse to go out with him anymore, but instead she gave an unladylike snort. 

“Amateurs! They don't even have a picture.” She shook her head "Forget it, just focus on the trial."

A surge of affection kept him from arguing and he was reminded that the thing that had excited him about her in the first place was her take-no-bullshit attitude, even when that bullshit had been him. They went to dinner again the next night.

 

 **Pet it**

They made out after their third date because he was warm and inviting and exactly what Claire needed after the stress she’d gone through in court that day. It was definitely softer and slower and a lot cleaner than the last time they’d kissed, but somehow it still felt just as electric.

She smelled like vanilla and wore a green cocktail dress that made her look amazing Owen made sure to keep his hands above her waist because his momma had raised him right. Still, he kept having to remind himself that his hands were not actually dirty from working on the bike or wrangling the pack, so he didn't have worry about messing her dress up.

 

**Try holding it**

After a month of hearings and dinners, he told her over beers at a trendy bar that he’d rented an apartment, whereas before he’d been crashing with a buddy of his from the Navy. It was fifteen minutes away from her hotel and he asked her to come to a housewarming cookout on the roof of the building. He greeted her at the door and handed her a Bud Lite, taking care to compliment her Vera Wang blouse, mumbling that it brought out her eyes. She was relaxed enough that she didn’t mind the line. She wondered if it was a good or bad sign that she found it sweet rather than condescending.

Owen invited her over more and more until he realized that she’d sneaked a toothbrush into his bathroom without discussion or him even noticing before. There’d been a time when he would have jokingly asked her if she’d added herself to the lease and how much fine print the new agreement had. He knew her better by then.

He worried at first about the nightmares, his and hers. But the first time he woke up in a cold sweat and saw she wasn't beside him in bed it didn’t take him long to realize that it was because she was in the bathroom with the door closed, vomiting as quietly as humanly possibly. Once the worst of it had passed, they both had a drink from a shared bottle of vodka and fell back asleep, entwined in each other's arms, exhausted.

 

**Play with your pet, as it becomes comfortable with your presence**

Somehow, they both managed to come out of the trial remarkably unscathed, legally at least. It was InGen that rightly took the brunt of the blame in the end. Still, they both had to deal with the public opinion, and the gossip. Owen was cast as the lovable rogue who had made tough choices in a terrible situation; Claire was regarded as the ruthless businesswoman who’d become both a survivor of trauma and a fool who’d played God and been bit in the ass by the monster they’d created. He thought it was bullshit. She’d faced down a T-Rex in heels and survived. She was a fucking superhero.

By the time that everything was wrapped up, the papers had known about their relationship being real longer than Claire and Owen themselves had. To the general public, the whole thing was old news, and he was so high on the overwhelming feeling of relief that he never even thought to second guess his decision to ask her to go with him to Florida. He had a moment of panic as soon as the offer left his mouth, but she looked him straight in the eye, gave him a determined smile, and said yes without acting like she had to think about it twice.

It's not a smooth road, recovery. There were days when Claire felt brittle and boxed in, when she bolted awake with the smell of sulphur from a flare choking her and the sound of screams that turned out to be her own. She’d snap at Owen, lashing out and saying cruel things. He’d just frown and sometimes sigh, suggest a drink of whisky or tell her he’d call her later, knowing she must want to be alone. She was silent as he walked out the door the first time, even though the minute he closed it behind himself she felt like shit and just wanted him there again. “Don't leave,” she thought as she watched the door close. “I need someone who knows what it feels like, who remembers what it was like, or I'm just one crazy broken person alone.”

The second time he went to leave, she willed herself to say, "Wait, I'm sorry.” Sighing, she added, “Shit, I'm sorry, that was...mean.” With a little sigh of frustration and just a hint of laughter she begged, “Please stay.” He smiled and nodded. She could tell from his expression that he understood. He sat on the couch with her and they watched TV together until she finally dozed off, resting her head on his shoulder, like teenagers on their first date.

They moved into a condo by the beach, an hour's drive from the sanctuary Owen worked at. It wasn’t long before Claire found herself hired on the managerial team there as well. They hardly ever had cause to run into one another, but they still made the time to eat lunch together every day in front of the Bengal tiger cage. 

Owen still brought her Starbucks, and she still rolled her eyes at him a lot. But they were both happy. They were both healing.

**Author's Note:**

> Headings from this article http://www.wikihow.com/Encourage-a-New-Pet-to-Trust-You


End file.
